His imagery has featured in memorable ad campaigns, but now George Logan is focusing on a hard reality – using his images to save lions. He tells Keith Wilson about his book and working with Born Free…
One of those children was a six-year-old from Glasgow, George Logan, for whom the film marked the beginning of a life-long passion for lions. He recalls: “I saw Born Free when it first came out and I was given a copy of the book, and then the more I started to watch them, the more I became fascinated with them.” George was in his 20s when he made his first trip to the Kenyan national parks of Amboseli and Tsavo, to photograph the king of beasts as well as the continent’s other iconic wildlife. But it was in advertising, not wildlife, that he forged his photography career, shooting awardwinning campaigns for some of the UK’s best-known brands. That said, his obsession with lions has not wavered; whenever he can, George returns to Africa to photograph the big cats, over a hundred trips now, he reckons. “When my photography was successful enough, I approached the Born Free Foundation with the idea of doing some sort of collaborative work and offered my services, and we’ve worked together ever since.” That was over a decade ago and now that collaboration has resulted in a new book, Lion: Pride Before the Fall, the proceeds of which will go to ‘The Last Lions of Meru’, a Born Free funded project dedicated to protecting the lion population within Meru National Park, the home and final resting place of the much loved Elsa…
01 FIERCE
A Maasai guide once told George, ‘When the male lion looks straight at you, you know he means it.’ And with him also running at you full tilt here, there’s no doubt
Lens
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure
1/6400 sec, f/5, ISO400
02 LOVE ON THE ROCKS
George spotted this pair courting on a rocky outcrop overlooking the savannah. Lions will mate for up to 50 times a day!
Lens Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L II USM Exposure 1/1600 sec, f/9, ISO400
03 THE SURVIVOR
This sleeping cub, under the protective gaze of its mother, was the sole survivor of an attack on the pride by a herd of buffalo
Lens
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure
1/1250 sec, f/2.5, ISO200
04 MANE SHAKE
After a torrential downpour, this young male sprayed the water from his mane with a few vigorous shakes of the head
Lens
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure
1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO500
05 A MOTHER’S LOVE
It may look uncomfortable, but young cubs are kept within reach and moved by a grasp of the jaws to the scruff of the neck
Lens Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO200
06 ATTACK!
A pair of lions make a scramble to hunt down a fleeing warthog, out of shot, to the right of this frame The agility and speed of the lioness ensured that she won the chase
Lens Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure 1/5000 sec, f/3.5, ISO400
07 DEADLY BITE
A lioness clamps her jaws tight over the throat of a young wildebeest to asphyxiate her victim
Lens Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM
Exposure 1/5000 sec, f/3.2, ISO400